South Asia has experienced a long period of robust economic growth, averaging 6% a year over the past 20 years. This strong growth has translated into declining poverty and impressive improvements. However, South Asia remains home to the most number of people living in extreme poverty and many challenges remain.
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This paper provides an overview of
recent work on quality measurement of medical care and its
correlates in four low and middle-income countries-India,
Indonesia, Tanzania,... Show More + and Paraguay. The authors describe two
methods-testing doctors and watching doctors-that are
relatively easy to implement and yield important insights
about the nature of medical care in these countries. The
paper discusses the properties of these measures, their
correlates, and how they may be used to evaluate policy
changes. Finally, the authors outline an agenda for further
research and measurement. Show Less -

This Annual Report outlines Inspection
Panel activities during the period July 1, 2005 to June 30,
2006. The inspection Panel aims to provide an effective
forum for... Show More + investigating the complaints of people who believe
they have been harmed by Bank-financed projects or program
due to non-compliance by the Bank with its policies and
procedures. During this fiscal year, the Panel registered
four new requests: one each from affected people in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Honduras, Romania, and
Nigeria. The four Requests concern projects with different
subject matters: forestry in the DRC; land titling in
Honduras; closure of mines in Romania; and the West African
Gas Pipeline in Nigeria. There were three investigations
completed in FY2006 : Request No. 31, Colombia - Cartagena
WSS and Environmental Management Project. Request No. 32 and
33, India - Mumbai Urban Transport Project. Request No. 36,
Cambodia - Forest Concession Management and Control Pilot
Project. Investigations in process are: Request No. 34,
Pakistan - National Drainage Program Project. Request No.
37, Democratic Republic of Congo - Transitional Support for
Economic Recovery Credit Operation (TSERO), and the
Emergency Economic and Social Reunification Support Project
(EESRSP). Request No. 38, Honduras - Land Administration
Project. A major focus of the Panel's activities this
year has been to familiarize Bank staff with the work of the
Panel and findings in the Panel reports. Show Less -

The Inspection Panel (IP) was created as
a means for increasing the transparency and accountability
of the Bank's operations. It is an independent
instrument responding... Show More + to claims by those adversely affected
by the projects financed by the Bank. This report documents
the experiences of the first four years (1994-98) through
ten case summaries, verified and evaluated by the IP.
Namely, the alleged violations stemming from the
environmental assessment and resettlement of indigenous
people under the Third Arun Hydroelectric project (Nepal);
the compensation and expropriation of foreign assets in
Ethiopia; the financing of equipment under the Fourth
Emergency Power in Tanzania; the alleged damage to the
natural environment due to the implementation of the
Rondonia Natural Resources Management project in Brazil; the
alleged violation in the financing of the Pangue/Ralco
Hydroelectric Dams in Chile; the damage to the livelihoods
of dwellers under the Jamuna Bridge project in Bangladesh;
the adverse effect on local living standards due to the
Yacyreta Hydroelectric project implementation in Argentina
and Paraguay; intended beneficiaries of the Jute Sector
Adjustment Credit in Bangladesh claimed adverse policies by
the credit; the adverse effect on the living standards
caused by the Itaparica Resettlement project in Brazil; and
the harmful result of the Power Generation Project in
Singrauli, India. Show Less -

The note describes the objectives of the
Inspection Panel (IP), i.e., to provide an independent forum
to private citizens, who may believe their interests have
been,... Show More + or could be directly harmed by a project financed by
the Bank. It describes operating procedures, and how to file
a request, the method of processing requests for inspection,
and lists the IP's members, with a brief outline of
each one of them. Current requests for inspection are then
summarized (as at June 1998) with a brief project
description, claims of harm, policies allegedly violated,
followed by the IP's findings, outcome, and significance. Show Less -

This paper reviews and summarizes the
findings and recommendations of 30 poverty assessments. It
analyzes the three principal parts of a poverty assessment -
the poverty... Show More + profile, the analysis of country policies and
institutions, and the recommended strategy to reduce
poverty. A review of assessments that were completed before
June 1992 indicated that, if a poverty assessment exists for
a given country, it is more likely that the country
assistance strategy will have a significant poverty
orientation. In nine countries for which a poverty
assessment was done prior to or at the same time as the
country assistance strategy was developed, poverty issues
were discussed at some length in the assistance strategy.
Those assessments that contained a detailed poverty profile
and relevant policy analysis had the most impact on the
country assistance strategy including a poverty-focused
policy dialogue and a shift in the composition of lending
toward more poverty-focused interventions. Show Less -